Ministers risk prioritising economic benefits over the health of the UK as the government races to secure international trade deals post-Brexit, Britain’s doctors have warned.

As the House of Lords prepared to debate the Trade Bill, the BMA produced its latest briefing paper on the risks posed by Brexit, focusing on the danger future trade deals could pose to the delivery of care in the UK.

In it, the BMA warns that international trade deals could: open the NHS up to further creeping privatisation if healthcare service provision is outsourced to private companies based abroad

limit the UK’s future ability to improve public health if private companies are allowed to block policies and initiatives that would negatively affect their investments

Weaken current high safety standards, including the animal welfare and environmental safety standards for food items

Restrict lower-income countries’ affordable access to essential medicines through strengthening of intellectual property rights (IPR) Amid the increasing likelihood of a no-deal Brexit, it further warns that should the UK crash out of the EU and be forced to trade under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, the subsequent cost to the economy could pile pressure on ministers to enter free trade agreements that promote the UK’s economic interests over its health.

The BMA is therefore urging the government to exclude from any future trade agreements: The provision of healthcare services, particularly the NHS and any clauses that could lock in competitive procurement of publicly funded healthcare services:

Investor protection and dispute resolution mechanisms that could limit the UK’s future ability to regulate in the interest of public health

Any weakening of the current high level of safety standards including animal welfare and environmental safety standards for food items

Strengthening of IPR that could limit the ability of lower-income countries to procure generic medicines.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair, said: “As the clock ticks down to our departure from the EU, the uncertainty surrounding post-Brexit Britain poses an ever more serious risk to the health service, its patients and its workforce.

“With a no-deal scenario looking more probable every day and the UK facing the real possibility of having to trade under WTO rules, there will likely be an appetite from the government to secure new agreements that will go some way to minimise Brexit’s cost to the economy. However, these new trade deals absolutely must not put money ahead of the nation’s health.

“First and foremost, the NHS must be taken off the table entirely. Our public health service cannot be dismantled and auctioned off to the highest bidder bit by bit to plug holes in the country’s finances caused by a poorly-judged political decision. If healthcare provision is not excluded from future trade agreements, it would risk sections of the NHS being outsourced to private companies based abroad, further contributing to the worrying increase in publicly-funded care being delivered by the independent sector. Market, rather than health-driven policies, contribute to fragmentation of services and create significant barriers to innovative and cooperative models of care that can have a real positive impact on the health of the country.

“We must not allow any future deals to dictate Britain’s ability to improve the health and wellbeing of its citizens, but many agreements include clauses that could do just that. Such clauses mean companies can sue governments for introducing policies or measures that seek to improve models of care and public health, but in doing so hit investors’ profits.

“The current high health and safety standards of products allowed through our borders, including those for food items, are also under threat.

“Furthermore, the government risks undermining Britain’s role as a global leader on health if lower-income countries are no longer able to affordably access essential medicines because of strengthened intellectual property rights.

“While the government has attempted to make some assurances, in its own words ‘nothing is agreed until everything is agreed’, and it is easy to see how promises made could soon be broken to push through lucrative trade agreements. And worryingly, the Trade Bill, if left unamended, would allow such deals to be struck with little transparency and almost no parliamentary scrutiny.

“The BMA has been clear on the major threat Brexit poses to the NHS and the nation’s health, and therefore it is vital the public is given a vote on any final deal with the EU."

Although the views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Ekklesia, the article may reflect Ekklesia's values. If you use Ekklesia's news briefings please consider making a donation to sponsor Ekklesia's work here.